A Matter of Interests
by CdnJAGScribe
Summary: Harm loves his Stearman, Animal loves his Nikon D1. Both friends have interests outside of the US Navy. A challenge breeds an idea out of left field that Harm jumps on.
1. Challenge

"A Matter of Interests"

Author: Haruo Chikamori

E-mail: hhchikamori

Rating: T

Classification: Meg/Animal

Spoilers:

Summary: Harm loves his Stearman, Animal loves his Nikon D1. Both friends have interests outside of the US Navy. A short story.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Meg Austin, Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.

Author's Note: A lot of photography terms come from being a wildlife photographer for the past 6-7 years. I never took a course for photography. I've taught myself. When I got my first 35mm film camera, a Mamiya Sekor TL500, I never had an interest in it other than taking snapshots. Now I shoot with a Nikon D300s and have a variety of lenses including the much-loved (and coveted by other photographers) 600mm f/4 (an lens almost as expensive as my car) Of course Animal would be able to get lenses a hell of a lot easier on an O-8 Rear Admiral's salary. I've had to scrimp and save for the lens of my dreams.

Incidentally Paul Entrekin is an actual air show performer who flys the MiG 15 in his shows.

Note that December is usually when temps start dropping precipitously in Nevada.

_**Naval Strike Air Warfare Centre, NAS Fallon, NV, Early December,  
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RADM Toshio Nakamura grinned at Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. "So…what are you doing this weekend?"

"Hmmm, not much. Probably taking out the Stearman for a flight, gotta make sure that all the av-gas is used up before I put her away for winter storage or I'll be spending a ton of time emptying the tank prior. Better to use it up than let it sit and eat through the tank." Harm replied as he filed away another file. "I oughta take you up for a flight on my Stearman. Nothing beats the feel of the wind in your face." Harm grinned widely as he saw the expression on Animal's face change to one of apprehension.

"uh…I think I…um…probably have things to do…like wash my car or something…" Animal stammered. He wasn't fond of open-cockpit flying. After undergoing a bloody Naval Inspector General inspection and the resultant flood of damned paperwork…and more damned paperwork, he knew that the Navy operated on the premise of accepting the proposals of the lowest bidder and he had a fondness for keeping his ass safe that went beyond the norm. So the straps restraining him to that flying hell-machine Rabb called his Stearman were built by the lowest builder and he was supposed to trust them with his precious butt-end.

"C'mon, sir, one would think that you weren't an aviator, sir. If you're an aviator, open-cockpit flows in one's blood, sir." Harm smirked as Animal's eyes flashed a brief hint of anger. This was a challenge. Harm was challenging his status as a naval aviator. This could not stand. Harm started to get nervous as Animal looked like he was thinking for a long moment.

Animal's eyes narrowed then he raised an eyebrow. "Challenge accepted…but only if you join me for a day of shooting eagles and " Harm's face fell. Animal photographed wildlife photography on his days off. Harm thought watching paint dry was more fun. "Don't worry…bring some coffee. Don't need you falling asleep. You can work the second D1 and the 300mm f/2.8 (the AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D ED-IF II). " Animal grinned and let out an evil chuckle; if Harm was going to torture him by taking him up on that antiquated bucket of bolts and scaring the shit out of him; Animal would retaliate by boring Harm to death.

Harm's expression was _why me?_

And Animal resisted cracking up in laughter, "You're not averse to enjoying the wonders of nature? Are you? Lieutenant Commander?"

Harm's only interest with the wonders of nature was a certain wonder of nature…one Major Sarah Mackenzie but he grudgingly said. "No, sir…"

"So…next weekend?" Animal grinned. "I'll take you out to photograph eagles. You can try to see if you can coax me into the cockpit of your Stearman. Deal?" The two officers shook hands on it.

"Well, since I'm winterizing my Stearman, I'll go first." Harm replied. "Fallon Municipal Airport, 1100 hrs, sir. I'll meet you there."

"OK…deal."

It would be about 14 minutes away by car to drive to KFLX; not too bad of a drive.

_**Meg & Animal's Home, 4700 Pasture Rd, NAS Fallon, Fallon, NV**_

"What's this I hear about you two planning a weekend adventure?" Meg grinned at Animal.

"He challenged me that I wasn't man enough to fly in his hunk of junk Stearman." Animal's eyes twinkled even as he mock-pouted. "Said that flying fighters wasn't a test of manliness; that to really be a man, one had to fly open cockpit."

"Oh, really?" Meg said tartly. "Well…who is he to dis my man?" She grinned at Animal as she caressed his face.

"Y'know. I've thought about getting a warbird…maybe fly it in some airshows. Go down to Sun n' Fun, one of these days." Animal contemplated out loud as he put his hand to his face as he put on a contemplating expression.

"You know how much those warbirds cost?" Meg asked.

"Researched an F-4U-4 Corsair. But the thing will cost almost $1.95 million to buy one outright; not counting the gas. I know that former Commander Jim Fleming who's now CEO with Bendix Corporation is thinking of selling off a half interest in his F-4U-4 for nine hundred seventy-five thousand." Animal replied as Meg's eyeballs nearly popped out of her head.

"That's a lot of money, sweetheart." Meg replied. "Especially to pour onto something on a whim, especially when we only have two salaries; I'm only getting about $4900 a month and your income is roughly $9500 a month. So all in total we're doing about $14,400 a month. Even at a seven year term, you're looking at $14200 and that would leave us just $200.00 a month for food let alone mortgage."

Animal winced. "Yeah…I know. Not doable."

"Now of course if you went thirds. Like let's say that you and Keeter went quarter interest on your half but Keeter only has an O-5 salary." Meg pondered. Animal loved his wife – Meg indulged his fantasies even when they were absolutely insane.

"I think I'll stick to photography. Love." Animal grinned as he wrapped his arms around his taller blonde wife. "You put up with enough of my weird ideas."

"Love you so much…" Meg grinned as she kissed him thoroughly. "…now if you were to get a T-6 Texan or a T-28…that's more in the low six figures - that could be done." Animal looked very surprised. "The rest might have to wait til you get a job offer from Blaylocke Aerospace. I heard they were nosing around looking for aviators to purloin from the Navy. They paid pretty darned good too. $500K salary an year?" she winked at him.

Animal's jaw hit the ground. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"Trey Blaylocke, the CEO makes over $3.25M a year. One of Daddy's friends. They went to school together. He's stayed in touch with me. Just called me a week ago, says he has a spot for you at Blaylocke Aerospace if you ever want to leave the Navy. I told him that would be up to you. He asked me about Harm too, but Harm wanted to complete his twenty."

"Blaylocke Aerospace, why does that name sound familiar?" Animal queried. "Aren't they the ones that are looking at designing a Mach 2+ business jet?"

_**Fallon Municipal Airport, Fallon, NV, 1100 hrs**_

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Animal muttered audibly as Harm gave him a wide grin.

"You're gonna love this. Animal. It's one of the best ways to fly. You won't believe how awesome it is to feel the wind over your face."

Animal looked over at Pop with a _God help me, I think I'm going to die_ expression on his face. Pop didn't help matters much when he burst out laughing. Animal muttered morosely. "I swear to God, Rabb. If those straps snap; I'm going to haunt your goddamned ass for eternity." Animal inspected Sarah's fuselage thoroughly along the cockpit area by the main spar "Hey, Rabb, you sure none of these rivets are loose?" That insult evoked another paroxysm of laughter from Harm and Pop. "Hey, Pop, you know who owns that T-28 sitting forlornly in the corner of the airfield? Looks like it needs some tender loving care." Animal peered over at that poor ol' warbird done up in Navy colors sitting on the corner of the field. There were some rust issues with the airframe and it looked like it needed to be in a hangar to keep it from the elements.

"Yeah…" Pop replied. "The owner's got medical issues, that's why he's neglected it. He's looking to sell it. Might be able to get it for a hundred seventy two, no doubt." Harm was looking at Animal with some semblance of shock. A T-28 was quite a step up. It wasn't a tail-dragger, it had a nose-wheel. When a tail-dragger comes in to land, they land on the two main-wheels first, no flaring to land, like with a tricycle nose-gear aircraft like the T-28. And it was considerably more expensive than Harm's Stearman.

Animal gave Harm a smirk. "Admiral's salary…buddy." He grinned.

"Meg said it was OK?" Harm asked wondering just how Animal's wife could agree to this. Harm should have given Meg more credit for being a loving wife; after all, Harm had wanted to marry Meg at one time.

"Yeah…we figured a F-4U-4 was out of our salary range, at least unless I went to Blaylocke." Animal casually dropped a major bombshell which definitely exploded from what he could see on the shocked expression of his friend's face.

"You were originally thinking about a Corsair?!" Harm asked. His grandfather flew one during the war in the Pacific. Before that, he flew an F-6F Hellcat. Owning a Corsair was one of his dreams. Lieutenant Commander Joseph David Rabb was a well-known fighter ace in the Pacific having shot down 6 Japanese Zeros. Winner of five Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Navy Cross and a Silver Star, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery after being shot down on a mission over Rabaul in 1944. He was one of the naval aviators that Pappy Boyington had been assigned to look for when Boyington himself was shot down by Zeros on a fighter sweep over Rabaul. That had started the wheels in his head turning as he pondered the thought that Animal's potentially shopping for a T-28 had hatched in his own mind. Frank would shit. Frankly; he would offer Animal a 10th interest in the F-4U-4 Corsair and the two of them could potentially fly it in airshows when Animal wasn't flying the T-28 Trojan. "I got an idea. But it involves us going out to talk to my father-in-law." He proposed to Animal "…and maybe we can get the Corsair. Did you know my Grandpa Rabb flew Corsairs in the Pacific?"

"Really?" Animal grinned. "That's awesome. I wrote on a Joseph Rabb in one of my ROTC reports where we were studying the Pacific War. Granted that class wasn't too comfortable." He sighed as he looked over at Pop and at Harm who nodded sympathetically. Animal's family was weird in that both sides of the war; both American and the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army, had Nakamura family members fighting.

Meg's grandfather was also a war veteran of the Pacific and had accepted Animal into the family. Sergeant Major Chester Austin's cousins had fought with the Marines at Iwo Jima. The Austins were a large extended family with many veterans in the branches. Including a Medal of Honor recipient in the Second World War. Gunnery Sergeant Harold Mitchell Austin had charged a Japanese machine gun nest at Iwo Jima, throwing fragmentation grenades into the nest which exploded. The nest was defended by a large number of Japanese troops and the gunnery sergeant had waded in with his M1A1 Thompson, mowing down the Japanese troops despite getting hit by enemy fire a grand total of fifteen times. That sparked a Marine charge across those hellish grounds. With the addition of the Nakamura clan to the Austin family, the family Medal of Honor count went up to three, as Animal's grandfather was an Army recipient of the Italy campaign for his heroism rescuing the Lost Battalion and Animal's own Navy Medal of Honor for the Korea rescue mission.

By this time, Harm had finished pre-flighting the Stearman. "So, ready? Animal?" he asked. Animal gave him a pained look.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He looked like a convict being led to the electric chair. Animal smirked at Harm as he picked up his parachute. Harm looked insulted. "It's an insurance policy." Animal muttered. "Had the riggers pack it themselves. Hopefully I haven't pissed off any of them recently."

"He's got a lot of trust in my flying abilities." Harm complained as he looked over at Pop who just chuckled. Animal was buckling the parachute to his torso as he looked over at Harm who was mounting up. "Just step where I step. This aircraft is fabric and wood in most places, except the cockpit."

"Oh, great, so if there's an engine fire, we'll burn off wings and crash." Animal rolled his eyes. "Tell me again, why the hell I'm doing this?"

"Because you're a masochist and you like my flying?" Harm retorted. Animal gave him a gimlet stare.

"I hear Adak is quite nice this time of year." Animal threatened.

"Can't do it, Admiral." Harm chuckled at Animal's ineffective threat, "We're off duty."

"Shit!"

When the two of them were situated in the Stearman PT-17/L300 Kaydet (A75N1), Harm cranked up the engine, the Continental R-670 radial engine came to life belching blue smoke as the prop began its repetitious rotations, causing Animal to cough. They both had on Navy AN-6540/42 flight helmets with WWII style goggles befitting the WWII era. "Fallon Municipal Tower, Stearman 153, taxi and runup." Harm radioed. "Departure, Runway 3. Circuit."

"Roger, Stearman 153, Taxi, Runup, Departure, Runway 3, Circuit. Have a good flight." Animal kept his hands clear of the controls, as it was Harm's airplane. As he taxied to the runup by Runway 3, he applied brakes, and gunned the radial engine to full power just so that he knew he had enough power for take-off. When he was given the clearance to go onto Runway 3, he taxied onto the center-line, then ran up the engine to full power. Releasing the brakes, he sent the Stearman down the runway and pulled back on the stick gently to coax _Sarah_ into the air. "Nice take-off!" he grinned at Animal.

Animal looked back at him. "This strap had better not break!"

When they did a few circuits of the airfield, he shouted forward to Animal. "Animal, your airplane!"

"What do you mean, MY airplane?!" Animal asked, his voice sounding panicked. Did he really want to take control of this flying tree/fabric flying contraption?

"Take control!" Harm yelled back. "It'll give you an idea of how nicely she flies!"

Animal gritted his teeth. "Alright, but you'd better take her back when I say so! My airplane."

"Your airplane, Animal. Just keep'er light on the stick, She's not an F-14!"

"I kinda figured that!" Animal yelled back as he took the stick and put his feet on the rudder pedals. "I'm gonna try a couple of gentle banks!"

"OK…come to heading 270. maintain altitude." Harm instructed.

"270, aye!" Animal replied as he looked at the heading indicator and gently applied left stick and pulled gently back on the stick applying just enough throttle to maintain their current flying altitude of fourteen thousand. A few second later, and the Stearman was on its new track, 270 degrees at 14,000 feet. After a few gentle banks left and right, Harm grinned at Animal as Animal looked back. "So…how'd you like her?"

"I'd feel much better with my feet on the ground!" Animal retorted. "She's nice, but this breeze in my face is disconcerting! Your airplane!" As he lifted his hands in the air to show that his hands were off the controls.

"My airplane!" Harm replied. _Sarah _responded to Harm's gentle touch. Harm rolled the Stearman as Animal's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"JES-!" Animal's pungent expletive was cut-off midstream as he saw ground and air switch places. Putting the Stearman into a dive, Harm grinned as he saw Animal hunker behind the windscreen. Pulling up at 10,000 feet, he set up for final.

"She maneuvers just like a fighter…from WWII!" Harm said. "Pilots used to train in these. She's a gentle one, but you gotta stay alert or she'll bite you."

"Fucking CHRI~" Animal muttered cutting off the last blaspheming expletive. "…almighty!" he finished off.

"Let's bring 'er in. I had only about half a tank of gas and we've pretty much burned the tank off." Harm grinned. "So lemme guess, you're still not sold on buying a Stearman!"

"Not exactly!" Animal retorted as Harm cracked up laughing. Bud was even more enthused about flying in _Sarah_ than Animal was and he wasn't even an aviator.

Harm brought the Stearman in to land in the opposite direction of the way they had taken off on Runway 21. As both mains touched first, he eased off on the throttle. "Never flare on landing on a tail-dragger, or you're going to fishtail all the way across the runway and probably plant your prop!"

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever fly a tail-dragger again!"

"The Corsair'll be a tail dragger!"

As they taxied to the ramp, and stopped, Animal unbuckled and got out shakily. When he jumped off the wing, he walked out three steps away from _Sarah_ and kissed the ground. They put _Sarah _away in the hangar and locked the hangar up.

"I think I might have an idea about getting our hands on that Corsair." Harm said as he grinned widely.

"Oh, really?" Animal's eyebrows went up. "Tell me more." Harm grinned at his friend's eagerness.

"Well, I have to get a hold of Frank and we have to decide how we're going to do this so that we can make a living out of flying air-shows when we're not on duty." Harm indicated. "You know I'm a trust-fund baby?"

"Didn't know that, now I do." Animal grinned. "So…you got enough in your bank account to cover a Corsair?"

"Well, I'm sure that we can look into owning quarter interests, but of course considering the amount of how much that aircraft will cost, we'll have to look into apportioning it in such a way that it won't bankrupt you guys. I know Tom Boone will be interested and so will Jack Keeter. And we can set it up so that we're earning $5,000 an appearance. There aren't very many Corsairs flying right now so if we can get another Corsair in the mix, we can make some money off that machine. And we got four good solid pilots, if three of us can get their tail-dragger endorsement, then we can fly that Corsair at Sun n' Fun next year." As Harm broached his idea, Animal's grin was getting wider and wider, almost fit to split his face in two. "But to make it viable…" Harm continued, a calculating grin ever bigger on his face. "…we gotta meet with Frank. Because Chrysler may be able to sponsor the warbirds and then they'll cover the cost of purchase – that way we can pick up a T-28D and possibly a Hellcat and be able to fly an airshow program."

"So, when do we all want to get this started?" Animal inquired. "I really like the idea of that. 4 Navy pilots, 3 Navy birds."

"We could also try and see if we can rustle up an F9F-5 Panther. That'll be nice to have a jet. The Chrysler Warbird Team. A horseshoe, an _ace-maker_, a Beast and a Grumman Kitty-Cat and my Stearman." Animal grinned at Harm's suggestion.

"Yeah, but would Chrysler advocate sponsoring an airshow team?" Animal inquired.

"Yeah, well, Boone's retired and Keeter's thinking about hanging it up. And if we can get this started, they can lay the groundwork." Harm indicated as he looked over some figures as they sat in Pop's hangar. "Since you don't like tail-draggers too much, you'd mostly be flying the F9F Panther…it suits your personality. You like fast aircraft and most of the F9F Panther's routine will be flying high-speed passes and some military-style maneuvers. I know that Paul Entrekin has a MiG 15 and that could play double-billing with the Panther to do some Korean War era ACM style displays."

"Sounds good. So when were you thinking about talking to Frank?" Animal asked.

"Give me a couple weeks with this idea. But I think we could conceivably be thinking about running this idea to Frank at the end of this month. Of course, he'll want to meet with all of us." Harm said. "That means that I'll have to get a hold of Jack and Tom."

"Tom should be chief pilot and we'll be secondaries." Animal said. "Hmmmm, we could make some good money out of this. Maybe even enough to pick up a F-4J?" with a dreamy look at thinking about flying an F-4J Phantom II at an air show.

Harm looked at Animal with raised eyebrow. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Yeah…let's not." Animal replied in agreement then just as his stomach let out a rumble he muttered "I think we should get something to eat. My stomach's famished. We go south, there's a Sonic and a Burger King. I'm hungry." Animal grinned and was rewarded with a look of disgust from Harm.

"You keep eating stuff that's going to give you a heart-attack one of these days." Harm muttered. Animal smirked in response.

"Hey, you said it…" Animal replied "I'm masochistic. I can't help abusing my stomach."

The two wrapped things up and hit their cars. After grabbing a bite to eat, the two parted ways saying "See you next week."

_**Harm & Mac's Home; 714 Noel Ln, Fallon, NV**_

Harm grinned as he entered his home. "Hey, Mac..." He grinned as he looked over at his Marine girlfriend who was dressed in a cream blouse and navy blue slacks as she looked fondly over at him.

"Have fun today with Animal?" she asked.

"Animal came up with a great idea. I just need to run it by Frank. And maybe we might be able to get it sponsored by Chrysler." Harm grinned widely.

"And what idea is this?" Mac asked curious as to what Harm was rambling on about.

"Well, Animal came up with the idea of forming an air-show team with Jack and Tom. If it comes across as a great idea to Chrysler, they might sponsor the acquisition of the aircraft and Tom and Jack will become a part of the current team going around to different air-shows while Animal and I operate on the sidelines while we're active Navy doing the daily operations. Animal said that he'd have a position at Blaylocke Aerospace after he leaves the active service and I'm thinking of following him; it'd keep us well-heeled in money. And the air-show appearances will keep us from being bored out of our minds. Who knows Blaylocke may go halfways with Chrysler to sponsor us."

At all this revelation, Mac's jaw was dropping open "Wow!" Mac was saying. "So…if this happens, you know how much income you'd be pulling in from the airshow appearances."

"Probably about $5,000 an appearance per aircraft plus fuel and travel expenses and it's a full air show season." Harm replied.

"Animal has some cockamamie ideas." Mac said laughing her head off, "…but whatever will keep you happy, dear." Mac stated leaning in to give Harm a kiss.

"It's doable." Harm insisted. "I think this is a great way for four aviators to make some money after our years of service are up."

"You know, Animal isn't going to hang his stars up just yet. He's got a chance of becoming CNO." Mac stated.

"I'm not retiring either as I've got a chance to make it to RADM." Harm grinned back at Mac.

"Whatever you decide, I'll support your decision." Mac said. "So, you're going photography shooting with Animal next week?"

Harm groaned. He'd forgotten about that. "I don't suppose I could catch a cold conveniently in time for next week."

"I don't think cold viruses work that fast. Harm."


	2. Retaliation

Author's Note: The eagle in the story photo was photographed by the author at Boundary Bay in British Columbia in Spring 2014 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens with TC-20EIII (2x) teleconverter attached to a Nikon D300s.

_**Retaliation: **_

_**Scripps State Wildlife Management Area, New Washoe City, NV; mid-December, US Route 50. **_

Animal grinned as he pointed his vehicle towards New Washoe City, Nevada. Harm sat in the right-hand seat looking glum. "You're gonna see a lot of wildlife."

"We're gonna get back hopefully before Monday, right?" Harm asked, not hearing the statement Animal had made. "Christmas shopping needs doing; gotta pick up a tree and decorations."

"Trust me, Harm. Scripps is a great place. You're gonna enjoy it."

"Are there turkeys?" Harm asked facetiously. "I gotta get me one of those too." Harm figured Animal was hell-bent on getting him back for taking him up in the Stearman.

One hour and twenty-seven minutes after leaving Fallon, NV. Animal pulled into a fast-food joint in Carson City. After refueling themselves and their vehicle, Animal pulled onto I-580 and headed north towards New Washoe City and Scripps Wildlife Management Area. Hanging a right at Washoe Summit, they found Eastlake Drive. Animal kept right to turn onto 101 and headed south. Finding a parking lot by Little Washoe Lake, they pulled in, parking close to the trail that they needed to walk on. Getting out, Animal went to the back of the car; and pulled out his Lowepro Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II which surprisingly held his Nikon 600mm f/4. Pulling out a Gitzo 1548 tripod with gimbal; a Wimberley full-size…that would hold his long super-telephoto lens. "Watch your step here. You hear a buzzing noise. You come to a complete stop." Pulling out a smaller tripod with a Wimberley Sidekick on it, he hefted it and handed it to Harm to carry.

"Aren't they dormant around this time?" Harm asked, muffling a _Jeez, why the hell did I come if I'm having to dodge rattlesnakes._

"Well, they say the snakes go dormant this time of year. But y'know…just like humans, there's always one or two stupid ones." Animal grinned evilly. "Y'never know." Harm rolled his eyes at that. That was just what he wanted to hear…NOT.

"The 300mm f/2.8 is in the other backpack with the second D1." Animal said as he handed said backpack to Harm. "OK…where we want to go is towards the big lake; that's five miles south. Trust me, it's going to be fun." Nevada gun laws allowed open-carry. So Animal and Harm both had their Navy-issue Berettas in hip holsters openly carried on their person. And frankly it was a wise precaution to do so, as one didn't know what sort of animals one would meet on the trails. You could meet up with an American Black Bear and that would put a nasty spin on a day out. There were large evergreens and deciduous trees in the park and surprisingly for Nevada, it had a forested appearance as opposed to the deserts of Fallon. It was nice to be able to come out to a place like this especially one that was less than two hours drive west of Fallon.

Securing the vehicle and locking it, the two intrepid adventurers hoofed it out of the parking lot and onto the trails. Animal's keen hearing could already detect the piercing calls of a pair of red-tailed hawks. He grinned as he pointed it out to Harm.

"Red-tails. They usually migrate down here from Canada!" he said loudly enough for Harm to hear over their hard breathing. Hiking was quite strenuous, especially when they were hauling packs. "They usually go after the rabbits. Periodically you can see them hit a rabbit. They aim for the head usually, but one of them might miss because they spooked the rabbit and get their torso. Those talons are about three inches long and sharp as hell!" Animal grinned as Harm paled imagining himself as a rabbit being targeted by one of those flying menaces. "They're a beautiful bird!" Animal stated. "They're the originators of air combat. When you see two hawks fighting over territory, that's when you've seen natural air combat at its finest!"

"There any reason why we're yelling?" Harm asked wondering why they were talking that loud.

"Keeps the bears from coming up on us unawares!" Animal hollered back. "American black bears have been seen in this wildlife management area! Don't wanna get eaten, hey!?"

_Rattlesnakes, bears…it just kept getting better and better._ Harm thought sarcastically. "Any sasquatch in this area?" he asked facetiously.

"Could be!" Animal snickered at Harm's expression. Harm wondered if Animal was pulling his leg. Animal let loose an evil laugh. Harm rolled his eyes.

A loud _kikikikiki_ sound went off in one of the trees down by the bigger lake as they walked towards it and Animal's face lit up in joy. "There…We're hearing America's national bird!" he yelled. "The American Bald Eagle!"

"The thing that sounds like a rusty pipe being sanded by an awl?" Harm asked.

"Yeah…something like that." Animal grinned as they came upon lakeside and decided to set up. Setting up the 600mm f/4 and the 300mm f/2.8 were relatively easy. "Now, the sound was coming from the opposite side of the lake. I've got a two-times teleconverter to put on the 300mm f/2.8. It'll drop it down to f/5.6. You'll lose two stops of light but at least you'll get up to 600mm range on it. I've also got a one point four times teleconverter which I'm going to stick on my 600mm – that'll increase my focal range to 840mm at f/5.6. We're gonna be photographing bald eagles…and whatever else comes along!"

All this was going over Harm's head. Animal was speaking in a completely different language. He had no idea what the hell Animal was talking about: _teleconverters? Dropping down? Stops? What the hell? _Harm had absolutely no interest in photography, other than buying the typical disposable camera that he could use to take pictures of things that interested him like parties thrown for his friends. This wildlife photography was something that was way too genre-specific for his tastes. But his friend was completely into it. Harm often wondered if Animal border-lined into obsessive when it came to photography.

Attaching the 300mm f/2.8 to the Nikon D1, Animal set up the camera on the Wimberley Sidekick gimbal and locked it in place; testing it to make sure the gimbal swung freely, he grinned. "You might want to get used to it by maneuvering the lens a bit so that you can get the feel of how far it swings to. Since you're not used to photographing or handling a digital single lens reflex or what we call a DSLR, I'll set the settings for you. That way all you have to do is point and shoot – press the shutter button right here." Harm looked at where Animal was pointing… "Black round button. 4.5 frames per second. If you see a bald eagle in the branches; point it there and focus on it by pressing the shutter button down part-way. That'll get the autofocus points to lock in on the subject." He paused for a moment scanning the trees on the opposite side of the lake. "Now the trick is getting them while they're in flight. If you see an eagle hunker down and duck its head adjusting its feet on the branches…you can bet your first born that it's going to take flight at some point in that little dance. That's when you stick your head in the viewfinder and get ready to pan, cause once that eagle jumps off that branch, you're going to track its direction of flight while jamming down on the shutter button. I've set your shutter-speed and aperture. You're currently on manual setting. Don't bother touching the settings. At least the settings selected will give you as much chance to hit a decent shot as mine will on aperture-priority. We've only got a usable ISO range of 100-200 on this camera so you gotta rely on the number of shots to get a usable image!" With all the photographic terminology flying by his head this time Harm was more confused than an outhouse rat.

Harm mentioned casually. "You know that idea you had? I talked to Frank."

"Yeah?" Animal replied.

"Frank thinks I've lost my mind, but he says it might be doable. He'd have to approach the president and the Board of Directors. They might go for it. Since I've been promoted recently…I'm now operating at a 3-striper salary." Harm had just been promoted by the commander's promotion board, the previous week to the rank of O-5. Mac had also been notified by AJ on the phone that she'd been selected for Lieutenant Colonel. The wet-down party was fun with many NSAWC members as well as the RSLO Fallon detachment personnel hanging out together.

"Really?"

"But I have one other person who might be interested in putting her foot in on this venture." Harm said as he scanned the opposite shoreline of the lake.

"Hmmm, tell me more."

"Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkes – Skates. She's on a program transitioning to the front seat. She's tops in her class and is going to be flying the F/A-18F when she's done. Of course by the time she gets out of flight school, she may be department head for a squadron." Harm grinned. "I may be losing my RIO, but I've got another aviator friend now. And I'm sure she's going to be interested in the idea of flying a Corsair or Hellcat."

"Great…I've heard good things about that program." Animal replied. Just then a bald eagle jumped off the branch and sailed across the lake. Both Harm and Animal panned their respective lenses across the lake and started firing off shots. Animal grinned. "It's a challenge, isn't it?" Animal said referring to the degree of difficulty in maintaining a steady shot.

Harm conceded that it was an interesting hobby. "I gotta say that it starts to grow on you." He admitted looking at the D1 and the 300mm f/2.8 lens that he had just manipulated. "…and trying to get a bead on the eagle was quite challenging."

"Just think of the focus point as your lock-on on the HUD of the F-16 Viper that you're flying at NSAWC." Animal grinned. "…and the eagle as a bogey."

Harm raised his eyebrow at that. He'd never heard it referred to like that, but it made it seem more doable if he compared it to ACM. At least he was good in that.

With the advent of DSLRs, computers were an integral part of wildlife photography. Animal had bought the top of the line Gateway Performance 550XL computer. It features 18 GB hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, CD-RW drive, TV/FM tuner card, Xeon 550 MHz processor, 19-inch monitor, Sound Blaster audio card, speakers, Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition and paid US$3599. There was a $200.00 reduction in price for US servicemen. Also Animal picked up Photoshop 5 at a nice discount as well. This enabled him to work on photographs and post-process them so that they came out looking nice. He was also lucky enough to submit a few photos into Popular Photography which helped to garner a few sales. He had a Nikon F5 of which the resultant 35mm photos were the ones that went into Popular Photography but rarely used it now with the advent of digital photography.

Harm knew that, for Animal, photography was a salve and the fact that Animal enjoyed nature was another side of his multi-faceted superior. He was a hot-stick with an F-14 Tomcat and was just as good with the F-5E, F-16 and F/A-18 (both Legacy (A, B, C, D) and Super variants (E, F)). He was also a MiG Killer and was respected amongst the fighter community for that. As the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center commander, Animal had to make sure that the war-fighters that he turned out of NSAWC's training programs were the best. Turning men and women into airborne killers was his occupation and wildlife photography was one of the ways that Animal turned to in order to find some peace in his soul. It was the only way to rationalize his existence as something other than one of the deadliest aviators to ever touch stick and throttle. Not many aviators had kills in this day and age let alone be one kill short of ace-hood. To some wildlife conservationists, the fact that he was an airborne killer would detract from his love for all things wildlife, but that was the complexity of his nature. Then there were some who appreciated though surprised that a military man would be that interested in wildlife causes. Harm thought that it was assumption that military men were Neanderthals that dropped bombs everywhere and blew up things that caused most wildlife conservationists to pigeonhole most military personnel as _uncaring of the environment_ and that wasn't fair to quite a few military personnel who enjoyed nature.

Harm knew his friend donated to wildlife causes and supported the Nevada Department of Wildlife Commission and was a part of Ducks Unlimited and donated his time as well as his efforts to the annual bird counts when he was able to. Harm didn't understand what the bird count was supposed to do, but he knew that Animal got some enjoyment out of it. And Meg Nakamura often went with her husband on those Christmas bird counts just to spend some time with her husband and spend a mutually enjoyable freezing cold day out tromping around in the desert watching for birds. Harm thought the idea of freezing one's rear-end off just to count feathered creatures_ was for the birds_ but to each their own.

As Harm was pondering these deep thoughts, a hiker with a large white lens popped by. "Afternoon! Seen anything interesting?" the hiker hailed.

"Just a few eagles in the trees." Animal grinned looking over at the hiker. "Canon?"

"Yep. EF 600mm f/4L IS USM" the hiker said proudly. "Just got it in October."

"I heard they just released it in September." Animal returned. "Nice lens."

"Looks like you got yourself a 600 too. Nikon variety?" The hiker noticed his garb: camouflage along with an NSAWC ballcap covered with scrambled eggs.

"Yep." Animal grinned at him. "My friend here is toting my 300mm f/2.8."

"Say, you military?"

"Yeah…Fallon. Naval Aviator." Gesturing to Harm, Animal replied. "Him too."

"Naval aviators, hey?" the hiker looked surprised. "Hardly see many military types around shooting photography or enjoying nature. You two are a few I've ever seen."

"Nice to know." Animal grinned. "You searching for a certain bird?"

"Evidently one guy told me that there was a lone wandering snowy owl around the area. Must've been a straggler looking for food."

"Really?" Animal used to see lots of snowy owls in Virginia when he was stationed at NAS Oceana. "Lock down the lens, Harm, and put the tripod over your shoulder. We're going huntin' for snowy owl pictures." Animal grinned. Harm groaned. "That's birding for ya." Animal crowed. "It's a matter of finding some nice pictures of species rare for the area."

"Ouch." Harm said as the twinge in his legs at moving caused him some pain after standing for what seemed to be two hours staring across the lake. Other than a few swoops, the bald eagles were mostly resting in the trees, not doing much of anything. And now a hike through the woods trying to find an elusive single Snowy Owl. "I hope to heck that we're eating something on the way back 'cause I'm famished." He sighed as he did as Animal instructed and then heaved the tripod over his shoulder. They were dressed warmly as there was snow on the ground.

Animal was relentless. For what seemed like eternity, Animal, the other hiker and Harm trudged through the wildlife refuge on a single-minded quest for _that damned owl _or at least that's what Harm referred to the feathery little mis-directed miscreant as. Harm's legs were now feeling as if they were about to fall off his lower torso. Mac was not going to like it if Harm came back _legless_. That wasn't technically possible however Harm was sure that possibility would be a sight to see.

Looking over in the foliage, Animal saw a rather thin and bedraggled looking white and brown thing hiding in the low scrub. From what Animal could see, it had golden eyes and an owl-like appearance. He said in a harsh whisper. "There it is…" Pulling out his camera, he took a few shots of the poor pathetic-looking owl. Then he turned to Harm and stated clearly. "That bird is starving. We need to notify wildlife animal rescue." Dialing a number on his GlobalStar Satellite phone he waited. A female voice spoke: "Nevada Wildlife Rescue."

"Hi, Kelly?" Kelly Witt was a seasoned wildlife animal rescuer and rehabilitator. Licensed by Nevada Parks and Wildlife Management, she specialized in raptor rescue. "Rear Admiral Nakamura here. Yeah, I'm out in the field here…"

"Hi, Admiral…what are you doing out there?" She asked.

"Just doing some birding…out at Scripps." Animal replied. "You heard about the little snowy owl who got misdirected?"

"Yes…" she paused.

"Well, I'm looking at your straggler here. Her crop is practically visible, she's emaciated, her feathers are dirty and I don't think she's doing too good." Animal said. "I don't have anything here other than camera equipment. Any chance that you could come down here and pick her up, because otherwise, she's not going to make it."

"Thanks…for telling me, Admiral. I'll be there in about 20 minutes. Can you manage to hang tight at your location?"

"You bet. We're down by County Road near the factory and about half a mile west of that location. We'll keep the snowy in sight and monitor it." Animal stated. Harm looked impressed. _This was what bird spotters did?_ He didn't realize just how connected a network of spotters could be and this was what spotters and rescuers did – identify and rescue wildlife that was injured, sick or starving.

As promised, Kelly Witt was onsite in twenty minutes with her little Toyota 4Runner and a cage. Handing a pair of thick gloves to Animal, she grinned. "Now, you can help me, Admiral, and capture that owl." She gave Animal a cheerful smirk. Animal handed the cameras over to Harm. And the chase for the welfare of a poor bedraggled snowy owl ensued…

…because Harm thought _Damned if that snowy owl didn't want to be captured. _It flopped every which way it could to keep from stumbling into the three who were trying to corner it. It threatened with its posture and hissed at them, hunkering down and glaring at them with malevolent golden eyes. But eventually, Animal snuck around behind it while Kelly distracted it and Animal managed to cover it with a heavy towel and wrapped it around the body. It was shaking and stressed and that was not good for it. Animal cradled it close to his body while they took the poor emaciated owl to Kelly's truck. Luckily it settled down and settled for turning its head around 180 degrees and looking at Animal with its golden eyes. Animal settled for giving it a scratch on the back of the neck as he handed the owl to its rescuer. "Mr. Rabb. Would you like to give the owl a scratch on the head. It calms them." Harm looked warily at the owl's sharp beak that was snapping.

"I'll pass." Harm said, his eyes not wavering from the golden eyes of that snowy owl which were fastened on him like lasers. "I like the idea of having ten fingers. Thanks." Animal gave the owl a last scratch on the head and let Kelly take the owl back for rehabilitation.

By this time, they had been at Scripps for the better part of six hours and the sun was starting to get low on the horizon. They figured that they had better head for the vehicle parking lot. "Got flashlights?" Harm asked. He didn't want to be stumbling around in the park with no way of figuring out where the hell they were going.

But eventually they made it out of the park and to the parking lot. Detaching all the lenses from the tripod, they packed all the gear up and put it in the trunk of the car. "Well…that was fun. You got to witness a wildlife rescue." Animal grinned at him. That made it worthwhile. Saving a beautiful wild creature was one of the highlights of a day enjoyably spent.

As they settled back into the car, the headlights of the hiker's car passed them on the way out of the park's parking lot. A wave from the hiker and a "I'll see you possibly a week from now at the Christmas bird count!" and he was off.

Harm looked over at his friend. "Christmas bird count? You and Meg are going to come out and freeze your tails off just to count birds?"

"Yep. It's enjoyable." Animal stated.

"I'll take your word for it." Harm would rather spend a nice Christmas afternoon curled up in front of a fireplace enjoying a nice hot chocolate and smelling the smell of Christmas victuals cooking. But…to each their own.

The drive back to NAS Fallon was a mixture of conversation about the day's events and the idea that had been percolating from last weekend. Harm was mentioning something about the five aviators popping over to La Jolla to talk things over with Frank. And naturally, Harm wanted to make sure that was ok with Animal before-hand.

As they pulled up on Harm's home, Animal grinned. "Hope today was fun."

Harm sighed. "Yeah…in a way, it was…" He was trying to keep from yawning his head off. One time of going out with Animal birding was enough for one lifetime.

"So…" Animal said, an evil grin flashing across his face.

Harm looked warily over at him.

"I know of a great little Oklahoma tour company that offers two week duration trips to the Great Plains." Animal suggested. "…we could go storm chasing… y'know…tornado tracking? Maybe see a big F-5 twister?"

Harm couldn't get inside the house fast enough.

TBC (third chapter: _**COOPERATION**_)


End file.
